Genesis xxiv.
37 And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shall not take a wife to
my son of the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell.
38 But thou shalt go unto my fathers house, and to my kindred, and
take a wife unto my son.
39 And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.
40 And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his
angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my
son of my kindred, and of my father's house:
42 And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my
master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go:
43 Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass,
that when the virgin cometh to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I
pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink:
44 And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for the
camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for
my master's son.
45 And before I had done speaking in mine heart behold Rebekah came
forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the
well, and drew water: and I said unto her; Let me drink, I pray thee.
46 And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and
said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she
made the camels drink also.
47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said,
The daughter of Bethuel Nabor's son, whom Malcah bare unto him: and I
put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.
49 And now, if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me:
and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said. The thing proceedeth from
the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
51 Behold, Rebekah is before thee; take her, and go, and let her be
thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken.
53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold,
and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah; he gave also to her brother and
to her mother precious things.
56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath
prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.
57 And they said, we will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth.
58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this
man? And she said, I will go.
59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse and
Abraham's servant, and his men.
61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the
camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah and went his
way.
63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he
lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold, the camels were coming.
64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she lighted
off the camel.
65 For she had said unto the servant, What man is that walketh in the
field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore
she took a vail, and covered herself.
66 And the servant told Isaac all things that be had done.
67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took
Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was
comforted after his mother's death.
Here is the first account we have of a Jewish courtship. The Women
seem quite as resigned to the custom of "being taken" as the men "to
take." Outside parties could no doubt in most cases make more judicious
selections of partners, than young folks themselves under the glamour
of their ideals. Altogether the marriage of Isaac, though rather
prosaic, has a touch of the romantic.
It has furnished the subject for some charming pictures, that decorate
the galleries in the old world and the new. "Rebekah at the well," has
been immortalized both on canvas and in marble. Women as milk-maids and
drawers of water, with pails and pitchers on their heads, are always
artistic, and far more attractive to men than those with votes in their
hands at the polling booths, or as queens, ruling over the destinies of
nations.
In fact, as soon as man left Paradise, he began by degrees to roll off
of his own shoulders all he could of his curse, and place it on woman.
Why did not Laban and Bethuel draw the water for the household and the
cattle. Scott says that Eliezer had attendants with him who might have
saved Rebekah the labor of drawing water for ten camels, but he would
not interfere, as he wished to see whether she possessed the virtues of
industry, affability and cheerfulness in being serviceable and
hospitable.
It was certainly a good test of her patience and humility to draw
water for an hour, with a dozen men looking on at their case, and none
offering help. The Rebekahs of 1895 would have promptly summoned the
spectators to share their labors, even at the risk of sacrificing a
desirable matrimonial alliance. The virtue of self-sacrifice has its
wise limitations. Though it is most commendable to serve our fellow-
beings, yet woman's first duty is to herself, to develop all her own
powers and possibilities, that she may better guide and serve the next
generation.
It is refreshing to find in the fifty-eighth verse that Rebekah was
really supposed to have some personal interest and rights in the
betrothal.
The meeting of Isaac and Rebekah in the field at eventide is charming.
That sweet restful hour after the sun had gone down, at the end of a
long journey from a far-off country. Rebekah must have been in just the
mood to appreciate a strong right arm on which to rest, a loving heart
to trust, on the threshold of her conjugal life. To see her future
lord for the first time, must have been very embarrassing to Rebekah.
She no doubt concealed her blushes behind her veil, which Isaac
probably raised at the first opportunity, to behold the charms of the
bride whom the Lord had chosen for him. As Isaac was forty years old at
this time, he probably made a most judicious and affectionate husband.
The 67th verse would be more appropriate to the occasion if the words
"took Rebekah" had been omitted, leaving the text to read thus: "And
Isaac brought her into his mother's tent, and she became his wife, and
he loved her." This verse is remarkable as the first announcement of
love on the part of a husband at first sight. We may indulge the hope
that he confessed his love to Rebekah, and thus placed their conjugal
relations on a more spiritual plane than was usual in those days. The
Revising Committees by the infusion of a little sentiment into these
ancient manuscripts, might have improved the moral tone of our
ancestors' domestic relations, without falsifying the important facts
of history. Many ancient writings in both sacred and profane history
might be translated into more choice language, to the advantage of the
rising generation. What we glean in regard to Rebekah's character in
the following chapter shows, she, too, is lacking in a nice sense of
honor.
With our ideal of the great first cause, a God of justice, wisdom and
truth, the Jewish Lord, guiding and directing that people in all their
devious ways, and sanctioning their petty immoralities seems strangely
out of place; a very contradictory character, unworthy our love and
admiration. The ancient Jewish ideal of Jehovah was not an exalted one.
E. C. S.
This romantic pastoral is most instructive as to the high position which
women really held among the people whose religious history is the
foundation of our own, and still further substantiates our claim that
the Bible does not teach woman's subordination. The fact that Rebekah
was drawing water for family use does not indicate lack of dignity in
her position, any more than the household tasks performed by Sarah. The
wives and daughters of patriarchal families had their maid-servants just
as the men of the family had their man-servants, and their position
indicates only a division of responsibility. At this period, although
queens and princesses were cooks and waiters, kings and princes did not
hesitate to reap their own fields and slay their own cattle. We are told
that Abraham rushed out to his herd and caught a calf to make a meal for
the strangers, and that while he asked Sarah to make the cakes, he
turned over the calf to a man servant to prepare for the table. Thus the
labor of securing the food fell upon the male sex, while the labor of
preparing it was divided between both.
The one supreme virtue among the patriarchs was hospitality, and no
matter how many servants a person had it must be the royal service of
his own hands that he performed for a guest. In harmony with this
spirit Rebekah volunteered to water the thirsty camels of the tired and
way-worn travellers. It is not at all likely that, as Mr. Scott
suggests, Eliezer waited simply to test Rebekah's amiability. The test
which he had asked for was sufficiently answered by her offering the
service in the first place, and doubtless it would have been a churlish
and ungracious; breach of courtesy to have refused the proffered
kindness.
That the Jewish women were treated with greater politeness than the
daughters of neighboring peoples we may learn from the incident
narrated of the daughters of Jethro who, even though their father was
high priest of the country were driven away by the shepherds from the
wells where they came to water their flocks. Of all outdoor occupations
that of watering thirsty animals is, perhaps, the most fascinating, and
if the work was harder for Rebekah than for our country maidens who
water their animals from the trough well filled by the windmill she had
the strength and the will for it, else she would have entrusted the
task to some of the damsels of whom we read as her especial
servants and who, as such, accompanied her to the land of Canaan.
The whole narrative shows Rebekah's personal freedom and dignity. She
was alone at some distance from her family. She was not afraid of the
strangers, but greeted them with the self-possession of a queen. The
decision whether she should go or stay, was left wholly with herself,
and her nurse and servants accompanied her. With grace and modesty she
relieved the embarrassment of the situation by getting down from the
altitude of the camel when Isaac came to meet her, and by enshrouding
herself in a veil she very tactfully gave him an opportunity to do his
courting in his own proper person, if he should be pleased to do so
after hearing the servant's report.
It has been the judgment of masculine commentators that the veil was a
sign of woman's subject condition, but even this may be disputed now
that women are looking into history for themselves. The fashion of
veiling a prospective bride was common to many nations, but to none
where there were brutal ceremonies. The custom was sometimes carried to
the extent, as in some parts of Turkey, of keeping the woman wholly
covered for eight days previous to marriage, sometimes, as among the
Russians, by not only veiling the bride, but putting a curtain between
her and the groom at the bridal feast. In all cases the veil seems to
have been worn to protect a woman from premature or unwelcome
intrusion, and not to indicate her humiliated position. The veil is
rather a reflection upon the habits and thoughts of men than a badge of
inferiority for women.
How serenely beautiful and chaste appear the marriage customs of the
Bible as compared with some that are wholly of man's invention. The
Kamchatkan had to find his future wife alone and then fight with her
and her female friends until every particle of clothing had been
stripped from her and then the ceremony was complete. This may be
called the other extreme from the veil. Something akin to this appears
among our own kith and kin, so to speak, in modern times. Many
instances of marriage en chemise are on record in England of quite
recent dates, the notion being that if a man married a woman in this
garment only he was not liable for any debts which she might previously
have contracted. At Whitehaven, England, 1766, a woman stripped herself
to her chemise in the church and in that condition stood at the altar
and was married.
There is nothing so degrading to the wife in all Oriental customs as
our modern common law ruling that the husband owns the wife's clothing.
This has been so held times innumerable, and in Connecticut quite
recently a husband did not like the gowns his wife bought so he burned
them. He was arrested for destruction of property, but his claim was
sustained that they were his own so he could not be punished.
As long as woman's condition, outside of the Bible, has been as
described by Macaulay when he said: "If there be a word of truth in
history, women have been always, and still are over the greater part of
the globe, humble companions, play things, captives, menials, and
beasts of burden," it is a comfort to reflect that among the Hebrews,
whose records are relied on by the enemies of woman's freedom to teach
her subjection, we find women holding the dignified position in the
family that was held by Sarah and Rebekah.
C. B. C.